Croatian NBA Legend’s Big Heart Revealed

He scored close to 4,000 points for the Boston Celtics during his 4-year NBA career, won 2 Olympic medals, countless European medals and a number of domestic championships, but little was known about the generosity of Croatian basketball legend Dino Rađa away from the court...

Daily Jutarnji list have reported that the former Celtics forward has spent the last 20 years financing a boy in Croatia who had lost his father in the homeland war in 1993 when he was just 5 days old. Thanks to Rađa’s generosity, the boy, who is now 21, is currently studying to become a doctor at the Medical University in Osijek.

Rađa has never spoken publically about his act of kindness, and is still uncomfortable talking about it today.

“Why would I talk about it,” said 6ft ’11 Dino, “It is my personal thing, and nobody needs to know about it. It is never a problem to help. Josip is a great kid, a top student. He and his mother are beautiful people,” Rađa said.

“It has never been about the money. It means more when a star like Dino Rađa calls and asks ‘how are you?’, when he invites you on a summer holiday, and to get his signature off him for my friends. He is more like an older brother,” said 21-year-old Josip.